We made the most of our trip and went to both parks. I flew by myself with the two girls and Myles met us down there a few hours later that same night after some flight changes and battles with Alaska Airlines. As a funny aside and sparing you the details- when flying with both your children alone going to the bathroom on the airplane is quite the production. Since Elin doesn't stand on her own it was a comedy of errors in the mini stall with all three of us trying to fit and not touch all the disgusting airplane bathroom stuff. Anya and I came out giggling both times because the logistics of managing the "duties" were quite comical.
The weather was mild but on the chilly side for SoCal but we toughed through it and shivered our way through Legoland's waterpark. It was a really neat amusement park but was definitely designed for 4-8 year old kids. Older kids probably wouldn't like the rides that much but they were perfect for Anya. One small snafu was the height restriction. Some of the rides required the rider to be 42 inches tall. Anya is about 41 3/4...... so after being turned away at the "big" roller coaster she shed some tears. BUT then she got on a different ride that had a 42 inch height restriction so we folded up park maps and stuffed them in the bottom of her shoes and voila- she was tall enough to ride the Technic Coaster.
We gave ourselves a days rest between theme parks and headed to Disneyland on Friday. We left bright and early to catch the best (and least busy) part of the day at 8:00 am in the park. Straight to space mountain and Anya LOVED it. So off we went riding the big rides and standing in line. We were able to plan out our trip pretty well with lots of advice we had gathered from friends and family about how to best navigate the park. We rode the rides we knew she would like and avoided the ones that were either too scary or too boring or had WAY too long of a line. Some highlights were meeting the princesses- Cinderella, Jasmine, and Snow White, seeing a great play about Frozen (with a guest appearance by Elsa and Anna), the parade was amazing, and Tom Sawyer's island. We were there from 8 am until 7:30 pm. All of us were exhausted and I tracked our mileage- we walked over 8 miles- Anya did the whole thing without a stroller. It did rain on us off and on- I wasn't dressed for rain so I spent most the day shivering but the miles of walking seemed to help.
Where or where was Elin during all of our park adventures? My parents were amazing and offered to watch her both days so the three of us could go out and enjoy the parks without having to worry about her. One of the things I have been told by other parents of special needs kids, is to be a family of 3 sometimes. It is OK to go and do things without the special needs kid and spend some quality time with your typical child. We took full advantage of this and Anya really enjoyed the two on one time. Elin of course soaked up her two on one time as well with both her grandparents doting over her.
San Clemente is a super cute surfer town with great food and good shopping. It has a beautiful boardwalk that runs parallel to the beach and everyone is out walking, running, and biking along the sandy path. We even saw some whales out by the pier. Both flights with the kids were great- the girls really were amazing on the plane. The trip was a huge success and everyone had a fabulous time.
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